The Pads of Her Fingers
by Muted Trumpet
Summary: The five steps it takes for Zuko to understand how much he loves her. Zutara.
1. Her Grandmother

**A/N: A series of chapters on how they change from friends into something else. Please read and review.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own A:tLA**

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Her grandmother

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It begins with a chair; a chair made out of ice. Zuko shivers slightly. In his mind, he wonders why he has to sit on such a thing when it chills his blood and makes his bottom feel like a giant piece of ice. The sound of Katara's voice as she enters the tent doesn't help much either.

"Gran Gran will be here in a few, want some stew?" Zuko looks at her with an odd look and then faces away when he catches a whiff of her cooking. It smells like his sweaty, sandy, sea-soaked socks after he's gone for a jog along the Ember Island beach. This most definitely isn't his idea of a nice warm stew.

"Come on Zuko", Katara's voice rings through his thoughts like the chimes at the Fire Sages' temple and he faces her again trying to avoid the stench that is so overpowering. "Just take a bite, it really isn't as bad as it seems". Katara is doing it again; she is trying to make him do something that he really doesn't want to.

"Katara, why do I have to meet your grandmother? To her I'm a monster from the land where people attack the innocent and eat their flesh with their salads or something. She'll probably see me as some kind of a threat", Zuko states matter-of-factly and that is when Katara pushes him away playfully.

"She's not that dumb Zuko", her finger moving from left to right making sure he got her point, or that he was hypnotized enough to face the elderly he had so viciously grabbed years ago.

"She knows you've changed. Plus, I've been living with you in the Fire Nation for years, I've met almost your whole family, and you can't pull yourself to meet my Gran Gran? Come on, be fun, we're best friends", she smiles widely, teeth showing and he groans. There is absolutely no way he is getting away. "I know you can't resist me, I'm your best friend", damn her, she smiles some more and he groans again.

Zuko rolls his eyes and reluctantly nods his head. There has always been something about her that makes him melt, like when they were back in the Fire Nation and he made him look through the whole Royal Library just so he could find her some butterfly love story she had so desperately wanted to read. Zuko groans again and gets a withering look from his old friend.

Zuko coughs slightly this air is really unbreathable, he doesn't care that there isn't even such a word because he is freezing and feels like pouting but can't because he has to be a man. Damn stereotypes and their effects on him.

All his life, he had to act all proper and formal just so that he wouldn't embarrass his father. And then he had to be in a smothering relationship with a nobleman's daughter; something about strengthening the Royal Family's political ties or something. He scoffs; Mai was never someone suitable for him. In fact he highly doubted any woman was suitable for him at all.

Katara forms another chair in front of him and sits down. He looks at her expressionlessly as she gobbles down the stew that was supposed to be his lunch. "What? You said you didn't want any", she answers dryly.

"Anyway", she continues before he has a chance to confirm if he had in fact said that he didn't want her stew. "Gran Gran's heard a lot about you, I've been writing to her you know. She knows that you hate rainy days and rises with the sun". Zuko rolls his eyes, is that really all she thinks is worth talking about?

"But Katara, I still don't get why I have to meet her, she still probably remembers me as the prince with that really bad hair day", his attempt at a joke falls flat as Katara doesn't even answer him. "I mean", he continues, desperately trying to recover from his embarrassing predicament "she hasn't seen me in years and what makes you think she even remembers who I am? She is old you know", he gets a hard smack on his head for that.

"Stop it with her age will you? She may be a little old but she still can handle men like you", Katara smirks when she sees Zuko shift slightly nervously in his chair. "And boy does she remember you. She calls you the yeren- wild man, it isn't that bad right? I mean you were really nasty to her you know. When you grabbed her and accused her of being a hundred years old." She reaches her hand to him and squeezes it gently for comfort.

Zuko's features go slightly pink but he writes it off as the cold getting to him. Damn Katara she's looking at him with those intent blue eyes. She's been doing that a lot lately especially when they were alone. Zuko swallows and looks back at her as intently as he can and then…

The tent opens suddenly and he hurriedly pulls his hand away. Katara turns away and clears her throat. "Gran Gran, this here is Zuko, my friend, you two have met before, he's the one you call yeren. He really isn't that wild though", Katara understands that she is rattling off but she doesn't care. This is her coping mechanism and she is trying desperately to control herself. For some reason Zuko making a good impression on her grandmother is something that matters a lot to her.

Zuko stands up from the ice chair he had been sitting on and realizes with slight amazement that he cannot feel his butt. And then he addresses the older woman. Kanna looks about the same as she did during their last meeting when he pulled her in front of the crowd and said that the avatar would be about her age.

Zuko cannot stand still partly because his butt is freezing and he needs to give it a bit of warmth by moving around and partly because Kanna is very intimidating despite her age. The elderly woman eyes him top to bottom and stares at him warily.

The young Fire Lord has the overwhelming urge to whisper to Katara about how strangely the older woman is looking at him and how he wished she would stop with her eyeing but he cannot because Katara is standing on her grandmother's side and eyeing him up as well.

He wonders why.

"Sit", is what the grandmother says and Zuko listens wordlessly and witlessly.

"You, I recognize you. You're the Fire Lord's son, your hair is different but I recognize your scar", she tells him and points at it. Zuko feels extremely uncomfortable, only Katara has touched his scar without him feeling uncomfortable. He tries not to back away and is thankful when she doesn't touch it. "Katara, why don't you go get us some tea?"

Katara eyes her grandmother knowingly, she knows exactly where this is going, but she doesn't object to her grandmother, instead, she heads out and gives Zuko a warning stare.

"Do you like my granddaughter?" Zuko nearly chokes.

"Yes of course, we're best friends", he tells her quite nervously and then swallows again.

"No young man, I mean do you _like_ her?" she questions and this seems to make Zuko's eyes go wide and his throat itch. _Like her?_ Well Zuko certainly liked Katara but to actually _like _her, Zuko hates that he is pondering the answer.

"Erm… no, no, I don't", he answers.

Outside, Katara listens to his words and collapses upon the snow.


	2. When he reads

**A/N: Here's the second chapter of The Pads of Her Fingers. Please review! They are always appreciated. It would really, really mean a lot if you review :) so please, please do just that :)**

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When he reads

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Zuko browses through his library. There is a particular scroll that he thought of whilst in the South Pole. He's always wanted to learn more about the other nations, about their culture, their agriculture, their landscape, everything.

He'd hate to admit it but he was very much like his father and his father's father before him. They were all intrigued by the other countries, the only difference was that he loves the other nations and they hated them.

Zuko collects the scroll from the geography section and returns to his desk. The book is visibly old. There is a layer of dust on top of it and Zuko cleans it off with his finger, bringing it closer to him to inspect it more closely.

He smirks. The first few portions of the scroll speaks about the aggressive blizzards that pelt the Southern Water Tribe every few months. He smirks even more because he cannot think of anything else but Katara. She is the blizzard of their little crew.

As if on cue, he hears the doors open and listens as her lithe figure passes through them. She is quiet and stealthy but there is no way to fool Zuko because he knows her too well. He wonders if he should surprise her by not being surprised or if he should pretend to be surprised for her benefit. He decides to do the former.

So that when her small gentle hands make contact with his perfectly sculpted, twenty-one year old body, he doesn't jump; much to her dismay. Instead, he allows her arms to drape over his shoulders. Her head is next to his now and if he were playful and daring enough, he would turn and kiss her. He doesn't. Instead he ignores how good her presence is and sits stalk still.

She moves onto his lap and picks up his scroll. Read to me, what she says is not a request; it's an order and Zuko scoffs. Him, the great Fire Lord, to read to a little Southern Water Tribe peasant, he didn't think so. "No, I'm not reading to you", he states simply. He shifts slightly so she is more comfortable. "This is an important document, I'm studying."

"But who says reading to someone can't help you study well? You may be able to study even better." Zuko shifts again. What on earth was she trying to do? Was she flirting with him? He seriously doubted it. Katara wasn't a girl; she was, well, she was Katara. Sure she was attractive and stuff but he definitely didn't like her or anything. "Read to me", she insists. Damn her, she was good at convincing people.

"You can read it yourself", he tells her and shifts again. "You went to school, you learned how to read and write and you've been staying here for years, read it yourself", he tells her even though he's already prepared to dictate but seriously holding back from reading the first chapter which happens to be on blizzards also known as Katara's temperaments. "You can't resist me", she tells him again "I'm…"

"Your best friend", he finishes for her because he knows the words she always repeats when she wants something from him like the dress she is wearing now. It doesn't suit her at all and he wonders why she chose dark crimson when she clearly has blue eyes.

"Come on Zuko", she tells him in that, he'd hate to admit it, irresistible and slightly annoying tone and he groans. Damn, damn, damn her.

"The weather is generally cold in the Southern Tribe, however, there are occasions when they have bright sunshine and…" Zuko stops because he can feel her shifting into his arms. And he knows that she is trying to get to sleep. Zuko rolls his eyes. "Katara", he begins. "You should go back to your room", he tells her and then proceeds to shift such that she is now the one sitting on the chair.

He looks at her, her eyes are half open and then suddenly they are closed and she is nodding away with her eyes opening and then closing and then opening again. She is struggling to keep awake and this amuses Zuko.

He doesn't know why but there is always something about Katara's antics that makes him laugh and happy when he looks at her. Now is a great example as she nods and then blinks away her sleep only to shut her eyes again and then opens them and then shuts them again.

Zuko watches her for another brief moment. She is adorable. He realizes this as he looks at the expression on her face. She is slightly sleepy and yet trying to keep herself on her feet; so to speak of course.

On a whim, Zuko decides that he wasn't about to let his best friend freeze in the middle of the night in a library which got awfully cold in the winter. So he lifts her despite her protests and brings her through the corridors of the Fire Nation Palace.

There are offers to carry her for him but there is a part of him that feels overly protective for some reason, he will not let her go and so he finds himself in a room painted with blue and white. He smirks slightly; this is the way he had wanted it to be when she told him she was moving in. This was the way he knew she'd want it to be.

And that is when he realizes that his arms ache and so as gently as possible, he lays her beneath her covers. He looks at her for a moment and then decides that this was the time when he should leave her.

She grabs his arm and holds on to it, her eyes are sleepy but she fights it and beckons him to come and lay with her. He is hesitant at first but doesn't resist her for long. He is tired after all and so he decides to lie down.

"Only for awhile."

He is surprised however, to find himself in Katara's bed with her arms wrapped up around him and his around her and instead of being embarrassed, Zuko is shy to admit that this feels right.


	3. The Kiss

**A/N: so this is the third chappie :) so glad i've managed to churn one out :) hope you all enjoy it. now don't forget to REVIEW!**

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The Kiss

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The weekend morning is beautiful with the sun glowing with its radiance behind the clouds and it isn't one of those extremely hot days in the Fire Nation, so is it any wonder that Katara has managed to do the impossible and pull Zuko from his favorite part of the palace- the office? This is obviously not something the young Fire Lord wants to do, but it's Katara and he cannot say no. Damn it.

And so the Fire Lord finds himself in a casual tunic and for goodness sake, slippers, hiking up the hills with Katara's picnic rations on his back. He wonders why he has agreed to this but damn her again for those large, round irresistible blue eyes. When they start telling him what to do, there is no way, I repeat; no way he is going back. He groans as he lugs the heavy burden. Why did she have the chefs pack so much food anyway? He really doesn't know.

"Come on Zuko, even Gran Gran can climb faster than you can!" she exclaims and he grinds his teeth together. What was it with this woman and her Gran Gran? He was as fit as an oxhorse and he knows he can outrun her grandmother anytime but when he wishes to come up with a rebuttal to face her accusations, he is stunned (and slightly afraid) to find that she is running down the hill to where is and looks like she is going to jump into his arms.

He shuts his eyes as he waits for her cannon ball but it doesn't come, instead, she has come to relieve him of his burden, but mind you, all she takes is the bread; the lightest thing amongst the weight he has been coerced to carry. He lets out a breath and continues with their hike. He can feel his feet starting to get muddy, after all, it did rain heavily the night before and he hates that it did.

He looks at his mud-ridden feet and crinkles his nose. This is definitely not his idea of 'fun'. Katara turns around and looks at him.

"Hurry up Zuko, it isn't getting any earlier", she tells him and with the energy of a crazed waterbender, rushes up the slope and stares down at him from the summit. There is a triumphant smile on her face and Zuko feels the urge to wipe it off. But he cannot because he is struggling with this heavy load on his back. Zuko has decided that he has had enough of this mockery and so with the energy and ferocity of an ostrichhorse, he charges up the slope yelling like there was no tomorrow.

He miscalculates all too late; and so he ends up on his best friend and all the food is sprawled out over the peak of the hill. She is covered in mud and she is not at all happy, after all this shirt was something that she has actually really liked and had actually bought it with _her own_ money. He gives her an apologetic look and his not surprised that she wrestles him to the ground.

On his back all, with an enraged Katara fighting him and pushing his head deeper into the muddy ground, Zuko fights back and that is when he ends up on her again. He notices, with a brief glance that his clothes are messed up and that he probably looks like a platypuspig, rolling in the mud. She bends the wet mud out of her hair and pushes back at him with frustration and pins him down with her arms on both his shoulders.

He tries to struggle free but knows that this is absolutely futile. She has him in her sights; she twitches her finger and has mud splashing all over his face. Zuko knows he looks absolutely horrid. What with his angry red scar and the dark mud to match, it was truly a horrible combination. And finally when she is done giving him a facial, she bursts out laughing and rolls off of him, staring down at him.

He feels like a fool for losing the battle to this woman but he doesn't make it a point to make himself more embarrassed and so when she lets him, he tries for an exit but she isn't about to let him off this easy.

"I actually like you this way more!" she exclaims as she encases his hands and legs in mud. He tries for a facepalm but cannot get there for obvious reasons. And then there is that chuckle, that horrible sounding noise, when she realizes that he is struggling to break free.

He hates that sound, it just makes him cringe every time he hears it because of it audacity. It mocks him and that is absolutely, most positively horrible.

"Katara!" he shouts from where he lies, trying his best not to allow any mud to enter his mouth as he speaks. "Katara! I command you to let me loose!" seeing that she is simply eating a bun and feigning interest in her nails as she faces away from him. He rolls his eyes in slight defeat and then sighs.

"Okay, I don't command you, I _request_ that you let me free?" he isn't sure what she is going to say and when she glances at him he knows that she is going to break at any given moment. He smirks slightly. "Please Katara, please, I'll massage your feet for a week if you let me up", he tells her in the sweetest voice possible and is a hundred percent certain that he has sold himself out.

She is looking at him now and smiling, ah he has managed to work his charm and as soon as that thought comes to mind, she is towering over him, like he towers over Toph. And then she squats down and looks at him; eyes half-shut.

"Two weeks", she counter-offers and with that signature roll of his eyes and sigh, he agrees.

"Fine, two weeks now let me free!" he says and she smiles mischievously but before he can take a second look, she has pressed her lips to his in a chaste kiss. When they part, his eyes are large and her cheeks are flushed as she turns away and allows her liquid prison to melt off.

Zuko scoots beside her and notices the blush on her cheeks as she stares down at the city. He is compelled to ask what just happened but doesn't for fear of embarrassing her.

"Well, whose up for some pancakes?" he asks and when he isn't looking, her eyes go downcast.


	4. Eggs

**Chapter 4**

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Eggs

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They have been avoiding each other since the kiss and now both benders find themselves in an awfully awkward position. Mai has given birth and both are welcomed to the baby's one month birthday. It is tradition that they give out red eggs on this very special occasion and is it any wonder, Mai has given one of her best friends and her midwife the privilege of painting the eggs?

Zuko suspects there's something in the works here. He swallows hard and picks up another egg painting it animatedly. Being cooped up in the kitchen is not his idea of a good time and Zuko finds that he actually dislikes doing this especially since his only companion is a crazed waterbender who for some bizarre reason chose to kiss him.

He trembles at the thought of the kiss two weeks ago. Why did Mai have to have him do this job and then conveniently leave out the detail in which Katara was doing it also, he bets a hundred gold coins that she didn't tell Katara he would be here either. Zuko sinks into his chair and avoids Katara's stare.

This is most definitely is not a coincidence, Zuko looks at the waterbender through curious eyes and sees her turn away quickly. He is sure she was looking at him and now she has turned away, now why is that?

"Katara, how do you feel about me?" his question is curious and odd, he knows this but he somehow feels the need to know.

"I… how do you feel about me?" she answers his question with a question and he hates it. Damn waterbenders and their quick wittedness. He hates that she is doing it again. She is looking at him in the eyes with that intense glare and he can't shake it off.

"You're a good woman", he says and they fall silent again. She looks at him, no stares at him and he swallows hard. Why couldn't she just be an ordinary friend and try to not stare at him? Why did she give him those large blue eyes and that intense gaze such that he couldn't bring himself to look at her, he hates that he is staring back.

"I think you're pretty amazing, whoever marries you is a fortunate man", he finishes and she looks hopefully at him.

"Now let's finish with these eggs before Mai throws a fit", he says and her gaze falls. She'd thought he was going to say he loves her, was going to understand that she loved him but there is no such luck. She closes her eyes, and when he isn't looking, she cries.


	5. The Plan

**Chapter 5**

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The Plan

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Zuko sits in his office. He writes, takes the brush in his hands and scribbles on a piece of parchment. Time passes too quickly, he determined this when he found out that all the time he has left before the Earth King arrives on Fire Nation soil is a day. Zuko is seriously beginning to hate the paper work. There is still much to do in preparation for the other head-of-state's visit. He still has to come up with a proposal to suggest ways in which the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom can trade peacefully.

He hates this, hates the work. He is being very moody right now, he knows this but he cannot bother to bother. He glances at his to-do list and sees the amount of work he has to do. Zuko is seriously starting to feel sick. He sighs softly why did being Fire Lord have to be so much work? He is sure his father spent more time in the brothels than in here. Not that Zuko wants to visit the brothels; he has too much respect for women for that.

The doors to his office open and he looks up. It's Katara again, damn her and her habit of disturbing him when he has work to do. He looks up at her and stares. He notices the necklace on her neck has changed. His mind is spinning now, finding questions to which the answers he may not want to hear.

"I came to say goodbye", her voice is soft, and he barely hears her. He searches her eyes, there is a pang of hurt in his chest and he hates it, he doesn't know what it is and that is what is disturbing the young Fire Lord.

"Where are you going?" he questions, stands from his seat and walks towards her. For years she's stayed with him and he doesn't want that to change. He touches his hand to her necklace and shuts his eyes as if he's been burnt. She doesn't say a word; all she does is turn away and look at a surprisingly interesting spot on the adjacent wall.

"I… ", she doesn't know what to say. "I… he asked if I would, and I said yes." Haru. Zuko never liked the other man. Zuko's searching her face; he doesn't know what he is looking for, peace, hurt, anger? He isn't sure anymore.

"What about us?" he murmurs softly, frantically, what is this, he didn't know.

"Us?" she scoffs. "There is no 'us'", he feels hurt, like she's just burnt him. He doesn't blame her; he hasn't exactly been very romantic with her now has he. He wonders why these thoughts are coming. Romantic? Why did he have to be romantic with Katara? That was odd wasn't it? He certainly loved her that was a fact but to actually _love _her, he wasn't sure if he did. She is his best friend and he should be happy for her, shouldn't he? Then why is he feeling like this, like he's just lost something that was supposed to mean the world to him, he isn't sure.

"I… I won't let you go", he tells her sternly and she scoffs again. Who was this man to tell her this? She doesn't care about what he has to say anymore all she wants is to run away from here; run away from this predicament and run away from the man who stole her heart. She faces away from Zuko, because she doesn't want to see that face of the man who hurt her more times that she could count. Zuko is not backing away so easily.

"You have no right to tell me what to do", she answers suddenly angry. Zuko's jaws clench and he looks at her, shaking his head and sighing.

"I cannot lose you", his words are soft at first and she isn't sure she's heard him, he isn't sure of what he'd said.

"What did you say?" she questions and looks him in the eyes.

"I cannot lose you", he repeats and puts his hand on her shoulder to punctuate his sentence.

"Why?"

"Because…", he doesn't know what to say. "I just can't!" he is getting increasingly annoyed. She isn't backing away from this just yet. She is too close if only she could just make him admit what he is really feeling everything will be okay for the both of them, no not okay, great. They can be together finally; if only he'd say what she knows is in his heart.

"Why? Can't you at least give me a reason why I should not leave you?" she asks persistently. He truly doesn't understand the emotions that are making him say things like these. Katara is not going to wait any longer, and so she is on her toes and she is kissing him softly, longingly, desperately. They part.

"I… I love you", he finally says and her eyes glaze over. "I love you… you can't leave me because I love you", he tells her and she is crying, tears of joy.

"Finally", Toph says bashing through the doors with Haru, Aang, Suki, Sokka and Mai in tow. What was this? A setup? Seriously? Zuko stares at his young Earthbending friend and swallows. What was going on.

"You see Sparky, here's what happened", the Earthbender begins. "It started when you and Katara became best friends. You and Katara were so pally it made us all want to puke", she gestures at the entire gang who all nod in agreement. "And then I felt Katara's heart beat whenever you were close by it beat quickly like a train whenever you touched her and I was like BAM! That' it! Sugar Queen's in love", she punctuates this by holding her hands together and swaying from side to side. Katara cannot help but make a face that thankfully she cannot see.

"So I got thinking… how to make you realize it all? And I got Haru. I always knew Sugar Queen had a secret thing with Haru and so I got him to make a necklace for her, I wanted you to understand how much she meant to you so that you would love her back and it worked! Geez Zuko making you realize you're in love Is like pulling my damn teeth you know that?" Zuko looks at her narrowing his eyes a little.

"I mean you can be reaaaaaaaaaaally densed at times. Ya know?" Zuko ignore her and gives Katara a kiss with the crowd cheering and laughing. And when Katara touches Zuko he can feel the love coming from the pads of her fingers.

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**A/N: Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note

Hi there! I was just reading my old stories and the reviews that they generated. And then I came across this piece of work. And I realized how much I missed writing Zutara of such a light nature, rather than the heavy material I've been writing for my other story. So I was thinking, should I write another series similar to this one in style? Of course the story line and theme would differ, but do you think I should do it?

I would love to hear from you on your precious opinions, please review or PM me. I would love to know if you think this is a good idea and what you would like the theme to be and the content in general. Hey, you may be responsible for the new story if I decide to write it.

Thanks and take care :) also thanks for your continued support.


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